A Very Cloud & Tifa Christmas
by celestialwinters
Summary: "As he leaned closer, she tilted her head back just so, her hand inching to grip the doorframe behind her for balance. Heavy lids slid slowly down over cinnamon-colored eyes, warm breath, sweet and earthy, fanned her face, soft lips pressed gingerly to her… Cheek?" What a wonderful stroke of luck, to get caught under the mistletoe with the person you secretly love.


I wrote this around Christmas time and posted it on tumblr but I'm just getting around to putting it on here, so here's a way past due Cloti Christmas one-shot. Also, the quote at the bottom is from the film "When Harry Met Sally" because it's a glorious movie, and I felt like it summed these two up quite nicely.

* * *

><p>"Ooooh!"<p>

A howl—accompanied by excited pointing at a spot above their heads—from Yuffie was the only warning Cloud and Tifa got before the entire room was filled with a chorus of "kiss! kiss! kiss!" chanted over and over. Tifa hadn't even glanced up at the mistletoe before everyone started in on them, and, puzzled, she looked up, quickly putting two and two together. She swallowed hard and glanced back down to meet wide sapphire eyes. "Oh, I..." She tried, but found that her voice seemed to go missing under his gaze. She flushed scarlet and cleared her throat, trying again. "You don't..." She shrugged and shook her head to try to convey what she couldn't find the nerve to say.

His impenetrable gaze scanned her face and a small smile flickered at the corners of his perfect lips. He glanced down at his shoes bashfully before returning his gaze to her face, and she read in his eyes, a decision. He nodded to himself just slightly, imperceptible to someone who didn't know him as well as Tifa did, and his eyes flitted between her eyes and lips. She felt herself flush again and a herd of moogles found their way to her stomach, anticipation filling her. As he leaned closer, she tilted her head back just so, her hand inching to grip the doorframe behind her for balance. Heavy lids slid slowly down over cinnamon-colored eyes, warm breath, sweet and earthy, fanned her face, soft lips pressed gingerly to her...

_Cheek?_

"Oh, you're no fun!" Yuffie proclaimed, a pout on her lips.

Tifa made a crash landing from her almost-high and her eyes shot open to see Cloud's profile as he chuckled at Yuffie's petulant expression.

"Even I gotta admit that don't count, Spike." Barret commented from his spot at the closest table, drink in hand. "Not that I want you kissin' all up on Tifa or nothin', I'm just sayin'."

"Yeah, c'mon, kid." Cid chipped in. "Look at 'er." He gestured lewdly at Tifa. "You're gonna regret that one, son." He chuckled and shook his head, momentarily removing his cigarette to take a swig of beer.

Tifa, thoroughly embarrassed—for the unwanted attention in the most unusual form (_forcing people to kiss as spectators watch? who even came up with that tradition, anyway?_) and for Cloud's brusque reception of it in front of all of their friends—felt the moogles crash and burn inside of her, and cleared her throat quietly. "Excuse me." She murmured, pushing lightly at Cloud's shoulder so she could get by to go upstairs.

* * *

><p>"Tifa?"<p>

Still firmly planted in her spot by the window sill—her favorite in the house—she kept her lips tightly shut.

"Teef, please." He tried again. "I know you're in there."

She sighed. "I'm fine, Cloud."

On the other side of the door, he sighed, too. "Teefs, please... Just open the door."

Bare hands raked through her already unkempt hair. "Cloud, I'm serious. I'm fine. Please go have fun at the party, okay?" She tried again, feigning a cheery voice. "I'll be back down in a bit."

She heard footsteps pace away and sighed in relief, but no more than five seconds later, they returned, and the doorknob jiggled, then clicked. The door swung open slowly and intense sapphire eyes were set immediately on her.

She stood, whirling to face him. "How did you—?"

His mouth curved into a small smirk and he held up a bobby pin. "You think I haven't learned how to pick a lock by now?"

She sighed, shoulders slumping, and turned back to gaze out the window at the softly falling snow. If there was one thing she favored about Edge, it was that she finally got to experience the seasons changing in a way that didn't occur under the plate. It was one of the things she'd missed the most from a childhood spent in the mountains. _And another standing right behind me_, she thought idly.

She felt, rather than heard, him approach. Even with heavy boots, he could be damn near silent if he wanted to, but her body was always so aware of him, it was hard for him to sneak up on her.

She felt tears welling behind her eyes, for reasons she didn't quite understand. Mostly, she felt unwanted by the one person she wanted most in the world. It was a nice, metaphorical slap to the face. She knew she shouldn't have really been surprised; after all, he'd met Aerith, of all people. How could she compete with that?

The backs of his knuckles skimmed against her shoulderblade. "Tifa." He murmured, so close that his breath fanned on the back of her neck.

She shivered, despite herself. "Please, don't..." She whispered.

His hand stilled. "Don't...?" His voice sounded hesitant now, unsure.

She bit her lip. "It's hard enough already, you know."

"What do you mean?"

She swallowed and turned to face him, only to see his face crestfallen, like a wounded puppy. "Living with you, but not being with you. We have a family together. We're together all the time, and yet, we're nothing, the two of us. I think I've held onto the idea of it for far longer than I should have... Some childish dream that would never become reality. I get it now. You don't want that." She nodded, gaze falling to the floor. "The boy with the spikey blond ponytail made a promise that he felt bound to keep... And you kept it, through and through. You're not obligated to me anymore." She murmured, hand trailing to his chest, just above his heart.

After a long, torturous minute of silence, he spoke. "That's... What you think?"

Ruby eyes flitted up and collided with sapphire, intense and stormy. "I..."

He placed his hand over hers on his chest. "You think that I don't want you?"

She made to pull her hand away, but he held it firmly. "Is that what you think? That I'm only here because I feel obligated to you?" Keeping their hands on his chest, he stepped closer to her, invading her space. She sucked in a breath and tilted her head to look at him.

"Well, don't you? I mean, I used a seven-year old promise to convince you to stay with us... Of course you'd feel obligated." She said matter-of-factly, shaking her head in dismay.

He glanced away from her and she was met again with his profile, only this time, instead of the lines of a smile, she was met with the angry ticking of his jaw. "Shiva, Tifa, you've always been so oblivious." He shook his head, raking a hand frustratedly through his mess of blond spikes.

"Excuse me?" She'd gone from hurt to confused to irritated in the time span of ten seconds, and was pretty certain she was due for some gnarly emotional whiplash any time now.

Stormy blue eyes returned to her, glowing and electric, and suddenly, before she could process anything, those same soft lips from earlier were earnestly prying at hers, somehow soft and gentle, even in his eagerness. She gasped and he took the opportunity to slide his tongue along her bottom lip and against her own tongue.

That was all it took, and then she was matching him stroke for stroke, her fingers tangling themselves wildly into his hair. He pressed his hand flat against the small of her back, pushing her body against his.

She wasn't sure how long they spent that way, but a ruckus downstairs caused them to tear apart, wide-eyed. Both breathing heavily, Tifa glanced shyly up at Cloud through her dark eyelashes and he chuckled at her, rubbing his hand at the back of his neck, embarrassed. "Gaia, Teef... I don't know how you couldn't see it."

An irrepressible laugh bubbled past her lips. "I..."

He, usually the one at a loss for words around her, understood her trouble and brought his hand up to cup her cheek, fingers playing automatically in her dark tresses. His eyes gazed into hers, no longer lit with humor, and his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat. "I love you, Tifa." He said finally, eyes never leaving hers. "And not just as a friend. It's never been just as a friend, for me." He paused. "I mean, I love you as a friend, too, but, there's always been... Something more there for me. I've wanted to be with you for as long as I can remember." He glanced up, shaking his head, lost in his memories. "I'm just sorry I never got the guts to tell you until now how crazy I am about you."

Tifa felt a wetness spring to her eyes, and did nothing to stop it. Another laugh slipped past her lips, until she was doubled over, laughing uncontrollably, too euphoric to stop herself.

Cloud seemed alarmed at first, then his lips turned into a small, amused smile. "Teef...?"

She finally pulled herself together, only small laughs trickling out as she caught her breath, and before Cloud could question her sanity, she kissed him, soft and slow. Neither of them pushed the boundaries, just simply leaned into one other, content to do just that for the rest of their lives. Tifa was the one to pull away, a brilliant smile on her face, a small laugh escaping her. "I love you, I love you, I... love... you." She breathed, punctuating her words with taps against his shoulders, like it was something she'd been waiting to say forever.

Cloud's answering grin was just as brilliant, almost uncharacteristic on him, and it made her even happier, to know that she could elicit such a response from him. "I love you, too." He grabbed her hands, kissing each one gently.

She'd stopped believing in fairy-tales a long time ago, stopped believing that you needed to be in love to feel whole, but she had to admit that she felt somehow lighter under his gaze.

"Hey, lovebirds!" Yuffie called from the bottom of the stairs. "Ya comin' back down or what?! We're doing eggnog shots!"

Tifa giggled and Cloud smiled as he watched her. "Just a minute!" She called back.

Cloud leaned down for one last, lingering kiss, lacing his hand with hers. "We should probably head down before Yuffie throws a fit." He smiled fondly.

She grinned, nodding.

Hands interlocked, they descended the stairs, met by twinkling Christmas lights, the warmth of the fireplace and the love of all of their best friends—namely, Yuffie in a Santa hat, pointing at them and obnoxiously yelling, "I called it!"

And she had.

_"Because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with someone, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible."_


End file.
